


To Be Saved

by 18lzytwner



Series: Bones - First Series [1]
Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-08-06
Updated: 2006-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-08 16:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 18,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15246927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/18lzytwner/pseuds/18lzytwner
Summary: Booth and Bones are working a new case but what happens when things go terribly wrong? BB and slight AngeHod.  Song included is Better Days by The Goo Goo Dolls





	1. Prologue

 

  **Prologue**

           Her breathing is labored and a warm sticky substance trickles down from her stomach.  The floor is cold but her body seems to be getting used to it, as she couldn’t feel much anymore.  Nerve synapses fire slowly as her thoughts turn to the only good thing in her life, FBI Special Agent Booth.

          The moments began to slow as the very first kiss they shared replayed in her head.  They would’ve been able to work out a relationship if… suddenly she was afraid of what was coming.  _I don’t want to die!_   She screamed inside her head.  Darkness was calling to her; she knows she can’t let it win.  Brennan tried to fight the feeling that was taking over her body but it seemed impossible.  Her eyes began to slowly close as a light appeared, seemingly beckoning her to it.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Three weeks before…** _

Booth’s hands run down her back as their lips are pressed together.  Brennan moves her hands from the back of his head down to the bottom of his t-shirt.  He doesn’t stop her as she begins to pull it off.  Soon the FBI Special Agent is doing the same thing.  Now both are topless and their hands find each other’s pants. 

          Suddenly, there is a loud beeping noise in the background.  At first, both ignore it; continuing on with their tasks.  After a few minutes, Booth is pissed and pulls away from Brennan.  She objects but he ignores it.  The loud beeping must stop.  Finally, he finds the offending device, his alarm clock.  Quickly, his fist comes down on top of the clock.

          At that moment, Brennan disappears and the noise hasn’t stopped.  Booth rubs his eyes and reaches over to his nightstand.  There his fingers find the off switch and the beeping stops.

          “Another dream ruined.”  He mutters to no one in particular.  Throwing the covers off, Booth gets up and out of bed.  The FBI Agent scratches his muscular chest and walks out of his room toward the bathroom.

          Once in the bathroom, he strips off his boxer shorts and hops into the shower.  The hot water feels good and he just stands there for a few minutes.  Washing his hair and body, Booth finishes up and gets out.

          Twenty minutes later, he is in the kitchen making coffee.  Now he is clean-shaven and dressed in a nice blue suit.  The Mr. Coffee stops percolating and he pours some of the hot liquid into a travel mug. 

          Leaving his apartment, Booth climbs into the big SUV and heads down toward his office.  Traffic is heavy as usual around D.C. and he hopes that he won’t be late to work.  Cullen has been in no mood lately and the last thing he wants to do is piss him off some more.

          Pulling into the parking lot, Booth realizes he has five minutes to spare.  Quickly, he picks up the pace and hustles into the building and then the elevator.  He makes it into his office and is about to sit down when there is a knock on his door.  Cullen barges in before Booth can say anything.

          “Here’s your next case.”  His boss says glumly as he practically throws the file at Booth.

          “Yes, sir.”  The agent answers and before he can say anything else Cullen storms out of his office and slams the door.  Shaking his head, Booth opens the file.  The details are gruesome and he is forced to close the file.  He’d seen things like this before but it didn’t make it any easier to look at them.

          Fifteen minutes later, Booth is back in his SUV and heading toward the Jeffersonian.  He looks forward to seeing his partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan.  They had talked on the phone last night about their relationship.  Since their first kiss, things had been awkward at times and it was getting harder to keep their secret from the rest of the team.

          Pulling into the parking lot, Booth found a decent parking spot and hurriedly jumped out of his SUV.  Walking into the large museum, he straightened his outfit.  He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath.

          Booth opened the doors that led into the lab and walked up to the raised platform.  He could see Dr. Jack Hodgins looking into a microscope and Zach Addy asking him some questions.  Angela and Brennan stood looking at something on a computer screen.  Quickly, he swiped himself in and said,

          “Hey Bones.”  Immediately, Brennan turned away from what she was looking at. 

          “Booth, I assume you’re here to interrupt my Civil War identification.”  She said.

          “Of course.  We have a body that is in need of your expertise.  The guys at the morgue should be here with it any minute.”  The FBI Agent smiled. 

          “Is that the only reason you come here, is to give us more cases?”  Angela asked.  Both Booth and Brennan knew she suspected something.

          “Why else would I come?”  He wondered.

          “Oh I don’t know.  Maybe to see a certain…” she didn’t get a chance to finish as Booth turned and said,

          “Oh look the body is here.  Bring it up here boys.”  The men from the morgue brought the black body bag up to an open examination table. 

          “Before you open it, you might want to look at the file.”  Booth said handing the folder Cullen had flung at him to Brennan.  She gave him a look and opened it up.  The good doctor read it aloud so the rest of the team could hear.

          “Female body was found in a shallow grave near a warehouse scheduled to be demolished.  There are indications that the victim was tortured before being shot to death.”  Carefully, she opened the bag and looked at the victim.  The body was partially decomposed but the evidence of torture was obvious.  What looked like cigarette burns and ligature marks appeared on what flesh remained. 

          “Hodgins, I want soil samples and any bug activity taken and analyzed.  Zach we’ll need the skull completely cleaned so Angela can recreate the face.”  Brennan picked the skull up slightly to look at something.

          “The victim is missing all of her teeth so we’ll have to identify her a different way.  Let’s get to work.”  Brennan reached into her pocket and pulled out a scrunchi.  She tied her auburn hair back into a ponytail and looked over the remains.          

Booth tried to hide his smile as he watched the squints do what they do best.  He watched Brennan’s eyes as she concentrated hard on the task in front of her.  Even at work she looked beautiful.

“Well are you going to stand there and watch me or are you going to help?”  The doctor asked without looking up from the body.  Booth’s cheeks turned slightly red as he went over and picked up the file.


	3. Chapter 2

Booth read through the file again for about the tenth time.  Something was nagging him about the body.  It seemed that he’d seen this somewhere before.  Getting up, he moved over to Brennan.

          “Does the body have any evidence of broken bones?”  He asked.

          “Which ones?  She has new breaks along the radius on her left side along with her fibula.  On her right side, new breaks occur in two of the lower ribs.”  Brennan informed him.

          “In English, Bones.”  Booth said.

          “Her left arm and left leg were broken and if anyone should know about broken ribs, its you.”  Brennan rolled her eyes.  At this comment, he moved closer to her and whispered,

          “Are you ok?  You seem a little touchy?”  Booth’s famous charm smile made its appearance.

          “I’m sorry.  I just had a rough night.  Can I come over tonight so we can talk?”  She kept her tone low.  Booth only nodded. 

          “So what’s going on?”  Angela came up behind them.

          “Bones was just showing me the broken bones.  There is familiar something about this case.  I’m going to run back to my office and see what I can dig up.”  Booth acted all calm as he turned and walked away.  He wanted Brennan to come with him but he knew that she still had a lot of work to do. 

          “Zach, how is that skull coming?  Angela needs something to do.”  The good doctor called.

          “It’s almost done Dr. Brennan.  I’ll have it to Angela in about ten minutes.”  The young student shouted back from the cleaning room just down toward Temperance’s office.

          “How about those dirt samples, Hodgins?”  Brennan asked.  The word “dirt” got the specialist’s nerves up.

          “The _soil_ samples are consistent with the area she was found in.  No big shocker there.”  Jack answered.

          “And the bugs?”  She asked.

          “I may be good but I’m not _that_ good.”  He said.  Brennan gave him a look.

          “You’ll have them soon.”  Hodgins said.  Quickly, the doctor got back to work.  Angela could see that something was bothering her friend.

          “Bren, hon, are you ok?  Is there something you’d like to talk about?”

          “It’s none of your business.”  Brennan snapped.  As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted it.

          “I’m sorry, Angela.  I haven’t been sleeping very well lately.”  The artist was about to make a crack about being with Booth but she decided that wasn’t a good idea.

          “So do you…”  Angela didn’t get a chance to finish.

          “Here’s the skull.  It looks strange without the teeth.”  Zach had popped up next to them.

          “I’ll take that.”  Angela grabbed the skull from his hands.  She turned back to Brennan and said,

          “We’ll talk later.”  The artist held the skull and walked down the platform towards the computer room.  She would try to recreate the face of the victim.  Hopefully someone somewhere was missing her and soon they would be able to bring her home.

          Brennan stood over the examination table, staring down at the body.  However that was the last thing she was thinking about.  She couldn’t get Booth out of her head.  There was so much she wanted to tell him but she just didn’t know how.  Her mind and body had built invisible walls meant to keep people out but also to keep her from coming out or opening up.  Breaking them from the outside was hard but from the inside wasn’t any easier.


	4. Chapter 3

Booth walked back into the Jeffersonian carrying a cardboard box.  He had a dour look on his face and Brennan could tell things just had just gotten worse.  The FBI Agent scanned himself in and walked up to her.  While he was gone, they had cleaned the skeleton and were in the process of looking for weapon marks or any other tell-tale sign of the perpetrator. 

          “You know how I said this case seemed familiar?”  He asked.

          “What is it?”  Brennan asked.

          “There are six other cases that have the same MO.  Cigarette burns, ligature marks, missing teeth, and the bodies being discovered near buildings there were to be demolished.  These other cases ran cold because they ran out of evidence.  The case before this, I worked on as a rookie.  It’s always haunted me that I couldn’t catch the bastard.”  Booth explained.

          “That’s because you didn’t have me or the rest of the team.”  The good doctor smiled for the first time today. 

          “Hodgins, can you look through the other case files for soil and bug information.  Compare them with our current victim.  Zach keep examining the skeleton.  If you find any tool marks or something you think is unusual let me know.  Angela is still working with giving our victim a face.  I’m going to go down there and see if we can’t piece together what exactly happened to these women.”  Brennan said.  Immediately the two men went to work.  Booth followed her to Angela’s office.  With any luck, they could shed some new light on these old cases.

          Angela sat studying the picture she’d drawn.  The bones had told her that the woman was Caucasian but they couldn’t tell her what the victim’s smile had looked like or the color of her eyes.  There were only so many things bones could tell you.  Luckily, the body had been only partially decomposed so Angela had worked off of the shape and general look of it. 

          “How’s it coming?”  Her friend asked.  The artist turned around and saw Brennan and Booth standing there.      

          “Well, here she is.”  Quickly, Angela pulled her notebook up off the desk in front of her.  The image she had drawn was spectacular as always.  Despite not having much to go on, the artist had once again captured the best in people.

          The woman looked young and vibrant.  A big smile crossed her face and it had created dimples in her cheeks.  Angela had chosen to go with brown hair and hazel eyes.

          “Wow.”  Booth said.

          “Thanks.  I just hope I’m close.”  She said.

          “You always are.  Can you help us pull together some of these other cases?  We need to see the similarities and run some possibilities.”  Brennan asked.

          “Other cases?”  Angela wondered.

          “Six more cases to be exact.”  Booth told her. 

          “Well let me input the data and I’ll call you when I’m done.”  She said moving over to her computer. 

          “Thanks, Ange.”  Brennan said.  The artist just smiled looking at her friend and Booth. 

          “What are you looking at?”  The FBI Agent asked.

          “Oh nothing.”  She answered and turned back to her computer screen.  Quickly, Booth pulled Brennan out of the office.

          “I think she’s onto to us.”  He said with goofy look.  He had hoped to make Brennan smile but instead a concerned look crossed her face.

          “What are we going to do?”  She asked.

          “Don’t worry.  I was just kidding.  I’m just trying to make you smile.  I love your smile.”  Booth tried to calm her down.

          “I can still come over later, right?”  Brennan asked.

          “Of course.  Nothing is more important than trying to work out our relationship.  I want this to work.”  He told her.

          “What do you want to work?”  Zach asked.  Booth did a double take and remained silent.

          “We were just discussing the case that’s all.  What’s going on with your examination of the skeleton?”  Brennan quickly covered.

          “I think I found something.”  The student said.


	5. Chapter 4

Booth and Brennan walked back to the body with the excited young man.  They hoped what he had found would give them some answers.  Walking up the platform, the two stood looking at what Zach had found.

          “If you look here the break on her arm you can see that the fracture was cause by someone twisting it hard.”  He started.  Brennan moved in closer and took a look.  Zach moved over to the magnifier and pulled it over.

          “Take a look at her leg break.”  He said.  Brennan moved down to the leg and saw what he was talking about.

          “It’s obvious that the arm was twisted but that the leg was broken with some kind of tool.  It’s shattered but I saw that already.  What’s the big thing you found?”  She asked.

          “Wait.  Now look at the ribs.”  Zach said.  Brennan gave him a look and then the bones.

          “By the looks of things, the ribs were broken with the same kind of tool but that doesn’t help us unless we can lift an impression or a serial number, especially since the ribs and fibula are in pieces.”  Brennan was starting to get frustrated.  That’s when Zach brought them to a nearby computer screen.  He pressed a few keys and a picture appeared.

          “This is how we catch ‘the bastard’.”  Zach said.  He had scanned the broken leg and arm bones into the computer and digitally placed all the pieces in the correct spots.  Now Brennan was beginning to see the picture.

          “Zach, this is brilliant.  Can you match the impression to any kind of tool or weapon?”  She asked.

          “I’m running the possibilities now.  Unfortunately, there haven’t been any matches in the weapons category.”  The student smiled.   

          “What just happened?”  Booth asked. 

          “Zach was able to piece together the bone fragments enough to get a possible match for a weapon or tool impression.”  Brennan explained.

          “So Bones, you’re saying we could narrow it down to what kind of weapon or tool was used and then match it to a suspect.”  Booth began to smile.

          “Exactly.”  Brennan said.  The smile quickly faded from the FBI Agent’s face.

          “Only one problem with that.”  He said.

          “What?”  Zach asked.

          “You have to have a suspect first.”  Booth answered. 

*************

           A few hours later, only Booth and Brennan remained at the Jeffersonian.  The good doctor had sent her team home for the night around nine after a good round of complaints.  They had all wanted to go out and have fun; it was Friday night after all.  Angela was already late for a date she had setup.  Hodgins wanted to go home and work some more on his conspiracy theories and Zach lived above Hodgins’ garage so he followed the dirt specialist.

          “Bones, my eyes hurt.  Do you want to go out and get some food?”  Booth asked.        

          “I don’t feel like going anywhere.”  She replied.

          “Well why don’t you come home with me and we can have that talk and some Chinese?”  Booth tried again.

          “Chinese sounds great.”  Brennan smiled. 

          “All right.”  The FBI Agent got up off the chair in the anthropologist’s office.  They both set the files back inside the box on top of Brennan’s desk.  She grabbed her purse and locked the office door on the way out.  Booth waited until she turned around and then he took her arm in his.

          Outside in the parking lot, the two could feel the day’s heat still radiating off the pavement.  It had been another very warm day in D.C. and according to the weatherman tomorrow would be just as bad.  Booth stopped and waited until Brennan climbed in her car.  Then he opened the door on his big black SUV and climbed in. 

          The two cars wound their way around the D.C. streets, which were still busy at this time of night.  People were heading out to clubs, bars, the baseball game, and many other activities.  Temperance didn’t even realize that they had already arrived at Booth’s apartment building until he tapped on her window.

          “You ok?”  He asked through the glass.  Her response was to open the door and bang it into his knees.  Booth winced a little and helped her out of the car.

          “Are you sure you’re ok?”  He asked again.

          “I’m just tired.  I haven’t been sleeping.”  She said.  The two walked in silence to the door of the building and went in.  Soon they were outside Booth’s door and the FBI Agent let her in.

          “Have a seat on the couch.  The Chinese will be here in like fifteen minutes tops.”  He called as he walked into the kitchen.  Brennan sat down in the couch and looked around the room.  Pictures of Parker and Booth were everywhere.  Despite only being able to see his son on weekends, the two certainly enjoyed themselves.  

          Booth came back into the living room holding two beers.  He handed one to Brennan and sat down.  Then he loosened his tie. 

          “It’s been a rough day.”  He said.

          “Yes, so many things on my mind.”  Brennan replied.  Turning to her, Booth asked,

          “What is it that you wanted to talk about?” 

          “I’m…”  she paused, unsure of how to proceed.  Booth took her hand and looked into her eyes.  He could see the turmoil and confusion behind them. 

          “Temperance, even if you can’t find the right words just tell me why you haven’t been sleeping.  Tell me how you want this to work.  I know you’ve been hurt before but I’ve told you I’d never do that to you.  I want to spend Sunday mornings in bed with you.  I want to hold you in my arms and make everything go away.  I want to make you happy.”  He said.  At this, tears began to form in Brennan’s eyes.  Booth set his beer down and pulled her close. 

          “Shh.  It’s ok.  I’m here.”  He just let her cry until the doorbell rang.  Booth didn’t want to let go of her but the Chinese food was here.  Carefully he let go of her and kissed her forehead.  Then he answered the door.  After paying the delivery boy, he closed the door and placed the food on the coffee table.  Suddenly he had lost all interest in eating.

          Temperance had dried her eyes and smiled at him.  He smiled back and sat down next to her.

          “Is that Kung Pao Chicken I smell?”  She asked. 

          “I seemed to remember that it was your favorite.”  Booth answered.

          “Too bad I don’t feel like eating.”  Brennan grimaced.

          “Me neither.  But I don’t think having a beer on an empty stomach is such a good idea.”  He said.  She nodded and they slowly tucked into their food. 

          Sometime later, the food was gone and so was the garbage.  Both had had another beer and now they sat silently on the couch. 

          “Seeley, I want to tell you everything but it’s hard for me and I don’t want it to ruin our relationship.”  She finally said.

          “Just tell me; whatever you say can’t hurt our confusing little situation.”  Booth answered.

          “I want to get close to you but something inside me keeps saying that I can’t.  That I’ll get hurt or it will ruin my career.  I’ve worked so hard to get where I am and I’m afraid of losing not only my job but you too.”  Brennan hoped that he would be able to make sense of it all.

          “No matter what happens, Temperance, you’ll never lose me.  I’ll be right here.  If you want to take things slow, then we’ll take things slow.  I don’t need to rush.  I’ll wait for you.  I would never dream of risking your career and I don’t think that anyone including the FBI would be able to do anything about our relationship.  They want the FBI and the Jeffersonian to be working together and they will do whatever it takes to make it happen.  Trust me, I worried too at first but then I realized that I couldn’t sit back anymore.  I need to be with you, Temperance.  I love you.”  He said.  Booth was afraid he had scared her.  He waited for the atomic bomb to drop or have his heart torn out.  What happened next completely surprised him. 


	6. Chapter 5

“I don’t know what that means.”  Brennan’s often used phrase when something completely passed over her head.  It made Booth’s jaw drop.  He didn’t know what to say.

          “I haven’t been happy since before my parents disappeared.  I haven’t lain in bed on Sunday mornings with anyone.  I…”  Brennan started but Booth didn’t let her finish.  He took hold of her face and pulled her close.  Their lips were pressed against each other and again the spark of electricity seemed to pass through them.  Brennan shivered and Booth rubbed his arms over her.  Their tongues explored each others mouths but suddenly, the FBI Agent could feel her tense up and begin to pull away.  Not wanting to push her, Booth let her back away.

          Brennan sat back on the sofa.  She breathed heavily and looked over at him.  Something inside her screamed to kiss him again but she resisted the urge.

          “Seeley, I…” Again Booth interrupted her.

          “That is what love is.  That spark between us.  I’ve never felt anything like it and I don’t want it to go away.”  He said. 

          “Neither do I.”  She smiled.  This time she moved in and kissed him gently.

          “But I don’t want to go too fast either.” 

          “We’ll take this as slow as you want.  I said I wouldn’t rush you into anything.”  Booth reminded her.

          “Then just hold me and tell me all about Sunday mornings.”  She said.

 *****************

          A beeping noise woke Booth from his sleep.  He realized that it was his cell phone and he reached over to answer it.

          “Booth.”  He mumbled.

          “Booth, its Angela.  Have you seen or talked to Brennan?  She hasn’t showed up for work and she’s not answering her cell phone.”

          “Uh,” he paused and looked over at the other side of his bed.  There she was, wearing one of his t-shirts.  Even though they hadn’t done anything but lie and talk most of the night, it had to have been one of the best nights of his life.

          “Booth are you still there?”  Angela’s voice brought him back to reality.

          “Uh yeah, listen I’ll be on the road in ten minutes and I’ll swing by her place on my way in.”  He told her.

          “All right.  Hey, what are you wearing?”  Angela asked.

          “Goodbye Angela.”  Booth hung up.  He turned to Temperance.  She was still asleep and he hated to wake her but they did have a case to solve.

          “Temperance,” he whispered in her ear.  She smiled but didn’t move.

          “We’re late for work.”  Booth said.  Immediately, Brennan sat up.

          “I’d offer you a ride in but I think people would get suspicious.”  He smiled.

          “That and I don’t have any clothes other than what I wore yesterday.”  She smiled back.  Soon she was hopping around scooping up her clothes. 

          “I’ll see you at work.”  Brennan called as she headed for the door.  Booth stopped her and kissed her.

          “I love you.”  He said.

          “I love you, too.”  She smiled and then quickly headed for the elevator.


	7. Chapter 6

About forty minutes later, Booth and Brennan walked through the Jeffersonian Lab doors.  Immediately, they swiped in and walked up to the rest of team on the platform. 

          “Finally.”  Hodgins gave both of them looks.  Booth ignored the comment and said,

          “Good thing, I stopped by her place.  She had fallen asleep at her laptop.” 

          “What’s your excuse?”  Angela asked.  Her eyes carefully watched her best friend and the G-man’s expressions.

          “Not that it’s any of your business but I had a late night with a beautiful woman.”  Booth answered without giving anything away.  Angela wanted to press him some more but Brennan didn’t let her.

          “All right, where are we?”  The good doctor asked.

          “I was able to discover what tool was used on our unidentified woman but as Agent Booth pointed out yesterday we still need a suspect.”  Zach said.

          “I’ve been working on the faces of the other unidentified women.  I only have one left.”  Angela informed them.

          “The soil samples match the specific areas where the bodies were found.  There was no cross contamination of other soil.”  Jack said.

          “Well let’s just focus on the case we have at the moment.  The body was found in a partially decomposed state.  Obvious, cigarette burns and ligature marks were found on the body, which was also missing its teeth.  The body was buried somewhat haphazardly near a building due for demolition.”  At this, Brennan stopped.

          “Why would the murderer want the body found?”  She wondered.

          “This person has been toying with the police and the FBI for the past fifteen years.  He’s good and he knows it.”  Booth said.  Brennan cocked her head to one side and quickly grabbed the files sitting on the table.  She scanned through them and came to a realization.

          “All seven bodies had signs of obvious torture.  They also were buried near buildings that were scheduled to be demolished.  Either the women have something in connection or the buildings do.”  Brennan said.

          “Yes.  What do they have in common?”  Booth asked.

          “According to the files, all the women were aged between thirty and forty years old.”  Angela said.

          “All the bodies had arms that were broken by twisting along with the torture signs.”  Zach offered.

          “That already tells us two things about our mystery suspect.”  Brennan said.

          “He likes older women and torture.  How does that help?”  Booth asked.

          “I have a feeling that possibly our suspect may have had been abused by an older woman, possibly his mother or maybe his mother was the one being abused.”  Temperance told them.

          “I think the next course of action is to analyze the buildings.  Angela, I need you to enter the buildings see of their locations create some sort of pattern or if they are all within a certain radius.”  The good doctor ordered.

          “Like we did the underground tunnels?”  Angela asked.

          “Yes.  Zach, by now the six other bodies were cremated.  I need you to find any X-rays or pictures of the skeleton and see if you can match the weapon impressions on them.  It may be the only way to link the murderer to the bodies.”  Brennan said.

          “I’ll look into the demolition crew and see if there is anyone with a record.  That will hopefully shrink our field of suspects.”  Booth said.

          “What am I supposed to do?”  Hodgins asked.

          “Work with Angela.  Maybe the soil can lead us somewhere or maybe your knowledge of architecture.  In the meantime, I’ll go with Booth.”  Brennan said. 


	8. Chapter 7

Booth and Brennan had just closed the doors on the SUV when she turned to him and gave him a look.

          “Fallen asleep at my laptop?  You had a long night with a beautiful woman?  Are you trying to make it obvious?”  Temperance didn’t realize she was almost shouting.  Booth turned to her.

          “Did anyone question what I said?  And what about you?  Spilling my criminal analysis to everyone?”  His voice was raised as well.  The FBI Agent jammed the keys into the ignition and fired the vehicle up.  At this, Brennan hung her head and remained silent.  The entire ride to the Hoover Building was silent.

          Booth parked the black SUV, got out, and quickly strode toward the entrance.  Brennan got out and ran to catch up.  They entered the building and went up to Booth’s office and closed the door.  The FBI Agent sighed and sat down behind his desk.  Brennan sat across from him.  The silence was getting oppressive. 

          “I’m sor…”  She didn’t get the words out before Booth raised his hand to silence her. 

          “We both made mistakes and we both don’t like to apologize so let’s just forget and move on.  There is a case to solve and we have to be able to keep work and our relationship separate.”  Booth got out of his chair and moved around the desk.  Sitting next to her, he took her hands in his.  Brennan shivered at his touch. 

          “Is that ok?”  She nodded and he smiled.  Then he got up and went back to his chair on the other side of his desk.  Booth punched the keyboard and printed off some files.  Brennan found herself missing his touch and sorry that they argued. 

          “Here is the list of the demolition crews that worked the seven sites where the bodies were found.  There are three hundred people to have to research and interview.  No way, we can sift through them today.  In fact, I have to get home by four o’clock because Rebecca is dropping Parker off.”  Booth explained.

          “It’s going to take a long time to go through all these names.  I thought Parker usually came over on Saturdays.”  Brennan wondered.

          “He does but Rebecca is playing games again.  Anyway, here’s the strange thing about those crews.  All seven buildings were demolished by different crews.”  Booth told her.

          “I didn’t think there were that many demolition crews in the D.C. area.”  She said.

          “Some are from Virginia, hence FBI jurisdiction.”  He smiled. 

          “Well I guess we’d better get to work.”  Brennan answered.

**************** 

          Angela and Hodgins pulled the building locations up on the three-dimensional screen, or rather what they had looked like before demolition had gone ahead as scheduled.  Only the last building remained until the scene had been cleared.  Digging up, what the six other buildings had looked like was hard but they had done it.

          “Do you really think this is going to help?”  Hodgins asked as they stared at the screen.

          “I hope so otherwise we just wasted three hours for nothing.”  Angela said.  She didn’t seem to notice that Jack was studying her features.  The artist turned around and caught a face full of the scientist.

          “Uh, sorry.”  He apologized and slowly backed up.  She didn’t say anything and moved over to her computer.

          “Let’s pull up each building individually and see what we can see.”  The artist suggested.  After looking at each building something struck the two. 

          “All these buildings,” Angela started.

          “Were apartments.”  Hodgins finished.


	9. Chapter 8

Around three o’clock, Booth and Brennan walked back into the lab at the Jeffersonian.  They had managed to get through about fifty people’s backgrounds and marked down any interesting ones.  Brennan found the work incredibly boring at times but she was sure that Booth found some of what she and the rest of team boring as well. 

          “How much progress did you make Zach?”  She asked as the partners scanned into the platform.

          “Well I was able to match four of the six other cases.  I’m still working on the impressions from the fifth body.”  The young student said.  Brennan nodded and moved over to the examination table where Zach had laid the X-rays and pictures out. 

          “You put these into the computer and matched them?”  Booth asked.

          “Yes, it’s a rather easy process.  First, I scanned the X-rays and pictures into the computer.  Then I pulled the files up into an enhancement program, which raises the impressions on the bones so I can match them more easily.  Next, I ran…”  Zach seemed so proud of his work before Booth cut him off.

          “A simple ‘yes’, would have done it.”  The FBI Agent said.

          “Finish matching the last two bodies.  Booth and I are going to see how Angela and Hodgins are doing.”  Brennan gave the student a smile.  Zach smiled back and quickly dove back into his work. 

          “Why are you like that to him?”  Temperance asked Booth as soon as they were out of earshot.

          “Bones, I told you; something to do with wanting to be the alpha male.  That’s the phrase you used.”  He gave her his ‘charm’ smile.  She had the sudden urge to kiss him but warning bells in her head reminded her they were at work.  Instead, Temperance rolled her eyes and they opened the doors to Angela’s office.  The partners were in for a big surprise.

          Angela and Jack appeared to be enjoying their work and it had nothing to do with the buildings the two were told to investigate.  It wasn’t anything dirty; they were just sitting in the same chair talking and holding hands.  It was just the fact that neither, Booth nor Brennan ever figured these two would get along so well.

          “So I take it the building work, went pretty good.”  Booth smiled as the two practically fell over each other trying to stand up.  The chair they had been sitting hit the floor.

          “Angela, can I see you for a moment?”  Brennan asked.  The artist could tell that her friend meant business.  They stood over where the good doctor thought they couldn’t be overheard.

          “What are you doing?”  Temperance wondered.

          “Jack and I were just talking.  Bren, hon, I’ve been so busy trying to hook you and Booth up that I just never noticed how interesting Jack is.”  Angela answered.

          “Bullshit.  You’ve been pestering me and now here you are sitting in Hodgins lap and holding hands.  If I’m not mistaken, you called him the most annoying, self-centered, crazed person you know and at times you didn’t even want to get within one hundred feet of him.”  Brennan said.

          “Things change.  I’m sure you and Booth weren’t all business at his office.”  The artist smiled.  It took all the strength Brennan had to not get too upset.

          “Things were all business and right now we don’t have time for this.”  Her words came out sharp and mean.  Immediately, she regretted it.

          “I’m sorry Angela.” 

          “Listen, sweetie, I know there is something I’m not being told.  I can feel it.  Lately, you seem to be snapping at everyone.  I think tonight, we should go out for drinks and talk.”  Her friend smiled.  Brennan’s mind told her that she really should get back to her book but she acquiesced to her friend’s suggestion. 

          “All right but let’s focus on the case.”  The two walked back over to Booth and Hodgins, who had spent the last few staring at each other in silence.

          “What about the buildings?”  Booth asked.  He seemed anxious and he kept looking at his watch.

          “All we found out is that all seven buildings were once apartment complexes.  They had been empty for many years and that’s why they were scheduled for demolition.”  Hodgins finally opened his mouth.  He didn’t expand on anything, which seemed odd because he usually managed to stick a conspiracy in.

          “So there is a good chance that our suspect never lived in them.  Why then do a half-ass job of burying the bodies there?”  Booth thought aloud.

          “Well you said that he was just toying with the FBI.”  Brennan offered.

          “Yes, but there has to be a reason.  Were the buildings made by some famous architect?  Maybe the perp thought that if he drew enough attention to them, they wouldn’t be demolished?”  Booth again floated some ideas.  Suddenly, his phone rang.

          “Booth.”  There was a period where he didn’t talk and then he let out a loud sigh.

          “But Rebecca, I want to see him.  He’s my son too.”  Again he fell silent.  Brennan, Angela, and Hodgins tried to focus on the buildings but it was hard.  Finally, the FBI Agent hung up his phone with a hard snap.  Then he walked out of the room.  Temperance wanted to go to him and find out what had happened but the case had to be dealt with.

          “I want you and Hodgins to find out who built these buildings.  I want every avenue covered there has to be a connection between these apartments and the bodies or the killer.  I’ll be in my office.”  Brennan ordered. 

          “That is if you two can focus.”  She smiled and left the room, hoping she could find Booth. 


	10. Chapter 9

Temperance found the FBI Agent pacing inside her office.  She hoped that they could talk without being interrupted. 

          “I can’t believe she is doing this to me.”  He muttered.

          “What happened, Booth?”  She asked. 

          “Rebecca says that she isn’t bringing Parker over because she’s busy and she doesn’t have the time to come to my apartment.”  Booth answered.

          “She seemed to be doing a lot more talking than you were.”  Brennan pointed out.

          “It was just her usual stupid drivel about how it’s her decision whether I get to see Parker and how she feels that this weekend just isn’t good for her.  It’s always about her.  She doesn’t care how Parker feels or how I feel.”  He said angrily.  Brennan felt bad and wished there was something she could for him.  Then an idea popped into her head.

          “Why don’t we go pick him up?  Call Rebecca up and tell her you’re done with work and you’re coming over to get him.”  She suggested, suddenly all smiles.  Booth gave her a look.  He knew that she didn’t much care for children but apparently something had changed.  Especially since she had said ‘we’.

          “Bones, I can’t do that.  What if she gets upset and doesn’t let me see him ever again?”  The FBI Agent said.  A concerned look crossed Brennan’s face.  Moments of silence passed between the two.

          “You shouldn’t jeopardize your chances to see him.  It was stupid of me to suggest it.”  Her tone had become logical and her face lost its concerned look.  Before he could say anything, she left the office and headed over toward Zach.  Booth was left standing there wondering if he’d said something wrong.

          “Zach, what’s your progress?”  She asked.

          “Dr. Brennan, I have raised all the impressions and they all match.  I was just writing up my report.”  The young student replied.

          “I have all my drawings.”  It was Angela.  Brennan turned around.

          “I thought you and Hodgins were researching the buildings.”  She said.

          “We are but I thought that you should have my drawings so maybe Booth could match them to any missing people.”  The artist answered.

          “I heard my name.  What’s going on?”  Booth asked as he walked up the platform.

          “The drawings are done and the weapon impressions are finished.  Hopefully this will help.”  Brennan told him.

          “What weapon am I looking for?”  He inquired.  The good doctor gave him a look like he should know.

          “Hey I was only told you had matched the impressions never what to.”  Booth defended himself.

          “It was a hammer.”  Zach offered helpfully.  The FBI Agent nodded. 

          “Well starting Monday, I’ll run the pictures through the missing persons database and try to narrow the field of suspects.”  Booth told them.

          “Jack and I, will keep working on the buildings and see if we can’t get anywhere with that.”  Angela said.

          “I want to keep looking at the bones.  Maybe there was something I missed that could help.”  Zach offered.  Brennan sighed and looked at her watch.  It was now five-thirty.

          “I’ll be in my office.”  She muttered and left the group standing there.  Booth wondered if he should leave her alone or try to talk to her.  Instead he picked up his cell phone.

****************

          It was now nine-thirty and Brennan hadn’t heard a peep out of the rest of her crew.  Booth had left without an explanation shortly after he had been handed the drawings and the weapon impressions.  She didn’t know if she had said something wrong or maybe done something wrong to upset him.

          “Bren, hon, can we go out and have some fun?”  Angela had appeared in her office doorway.  Brennan sighed.

          “It’s late.  I think I just want to go home.”  She told her friend.

          “Are you sure?  I mean we should talk.”  The artist asked.

          “We should but I’m not in the mood.  Go have some fun.  Make sure you take wonder-boy with you.”  Brennan gave a weak smile.

          “I think you mean ‘the boy wonder’ and I promise Jack will have fun.”  Angela’s face lit up and she left her friend’s office.  Brennan watched as the rest of her crew walked out of the lab.  She sat in silence for a few moments before hearing her cell phone ring.

          “Brennan.”  She answered without looking at the caller ID.  

          “Hello, Dr. Brennan.”  A strange voice came over the line. 

          “Who is this?”  She asked.

          “The person who is going to prove your incompetence.”  The voice taunted.

          “Excuse me, but do you know who you are talking to?”  Brennan’s anger began to rise.  The person on the other end laughed.

          “You don’t know who I am but I’ll make sure the world will know soon enough.”  The line went dead.  Brennan looked at her phone.  It said the call had come from a restricted number.  Immediately, she called Booth.


	11. Chapter 10

**Wednesday Morning at 9 a.m.**

Booth strode into the Medico-Legal Lab inside the Jeffersonian.  He saw the squints standing up on the platform and realized that Brennan wasn’t with them.  Immediately, he turned to go toward the doctor’s office.         

“Hey Bones.”  The FBI Agent’s everyday address was greeted by a slight smile from Brennan.  She stood up from her chair at her desk and crossed the room to meet him.         

“Hi Booth.  Do you have any news?”  She asked.         

“Unfortunately, because the number was restricted we didn’t have much luck.  I don’t think we’ll have any luck with it.  If you don’t mind, I think I should stay around with you.  Something feels strange and I don’t want you to get hurt.”  Booth said.         

“I can take care of myself.  I mean nothing has happened in four days.  But I appreciate the offer.  We’d better get out there or Angela will start to pester me with what we were doing in here.”  Brennan told him.         

“I just want you to be safe.  Promise me you’ll call me if you need something or if this happens again?”  He pleaded.         

“I will.”  She smiled.  The two headed out to the rest of the Squint Squad.  Brennan scanned herself in and so did Booth.           

“Well, he said I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news.”  The FBI Agent told the group.         

“What’s the good news?”  Angela asked.         

“The good news is I’ve been able to narrow down the list of suspects.”  Booth said.         

“And the bad news?”  Hodgins wondered.         

“The bad news is the pictures that Angela drew have not had any hits in missing persons.  The best we can do now is put their pictures on TV and hope someone recognizes them.”  Booth answered.         

“Well how many suspects do we have now?”  Brennan wondered.         

“Fifteen.  Most of them have criminal pasts but there are a few that actually worked for all seven demolition companies.”  He told them.         

“Isn’t that strange?”  Zach asked.         

“It is a little strange but I’m sure we can find out what made them switch companies so many times.”  The FBI Agent assured the young man.         

“I’m going to go talk with some of them today and hope that I can whittle the list down even more.”  Booth continued.  At this, Brennan’s eyes lit up.         

“What should we do?”  Angela asked.         

“Well since the buildings lead nowhere, the connection must lie with the suspect.  We’ve already examined the bones and anything else we can think of, so I want you to start the work on the Civil War body again, while I go with Booth.”  The good doctor said.  The Squint Squad nodded and began to pull the paperwork back out on the long overdue identification.  Brennan and Booth headed for the parking lot. 

**********************          

A man with an unshaven face sat in his living room staring out the window.  He could hear the noise from the cars below and the construction crew fixing the giant potholes in the street.  _Another boring day in the city_ , he thought to himself.  Slowly, he got up off his chair and revealed his true of height of six feet and four inches.  A smile spread across his face as he crossed the room and he pulled a photo album from behind a stack of other books.          

The pictures inside weren’t of a family he’d had once or places he’d seen.  These pictures were gruesome and showed women being tortured.  The women he’d tortured.  He flipped toward the end of the book and saw there was just enough space for pictures of his next victim.  She would be the toughest one to take on but killing her would bring him the satisfaction he desired.  _You’re days are numbered, Dr. Temperance Brennan_ , he thought as a wicked smiled crossed his face. 


	12. Chapter 11

**Friday Afternoon around 4 p.m.**

“Bones, you’ve looked over the crime scene for days now.  The FBI team didn’t find anything.  Your team didn’t find anything.  Why are we here again?  We still have ten suspects to talk to.”  Booth complained.

          “Listen, I know you have to get home for Parker and there are other suspects to interrogate, if you want to go, you can.”  Brennan said a hint of annoyance in her voice as she continued to search the ground in her crouched position.

          “I can’t leave you here.  Temperance…”  The FBI Agent stopped after uttering her name.

          “This case is getting to you isn’t it?”  The question came barely above a whisper.  Brennan stopped what she was doing and slowly turned her head to look up at him.  His brown eyes had a concerned look to them and his usual smile seemed to be strained.  She took a deep breath, let it out, and stood up. 

          “I’m thinking perfectly logically.  Just because they recently discovered my mother’s body doesn’t mean I can’t stay objective.”  Booth could tell she was lying.

          “It’s just me and you out here, Temperance.  You don’t have to put on your logical air with me.  I understand it’s difficult but I want you to open up to me.”  He said.

          “Booth, I don’t have time to open up.  Someone somewhere is missing a mother, a wife, or a daughter and no one seems to be looking but me.  This is my job!  I have to get the bones to talk to me and tell me who the killer is.  I’m the only one who can find the killer!  I’m the only one who cares that my mother is dead!”  By now, Brennan was shouting.  The last words that escaped her lips didn’t sink in until it was too late to retract them.  Booth could see that she wanted to cry but the walls she had built wouldn’t let her. 

          Before he could say anything, the forensic anthropologist turned and ran to her car.  She hopped behind the wheel and stuck the key into the ignition.  Booth ran to stop her.

          “Temperance, don’t!  Please stop!”  She ignored him and sped off, leaving him alone at the crime scene.  _Damn it!_   He cursed at himself.  Quickly, he hopped into his black SUV and sped off in the direction Brennan had.

***************

          Later that night, Booth sat on his couch.  Parker had gone to bed and the FBI Agent and father held a beer in his hands.  He kept replaying the discussion in his head.  He’d been trying to get a hold of Brennan but the doctor wasn’t answering her cell phone, apartment phone, or office phone.  _I’m such an idiot!  I wanted her to open up and now all I did was to get her to yell and be upset._   Booth thought.  He picked himself up off the couch and walked into the kitchen.  He wanted to go to her apartment but he couldn’t leave Parker alone, so he grabbed another beer and went to sit back down on the couch.  

 **************

 Dr. Temperance Brennan sat on her sofa with her laptop in front of her.  The story she had been working on remained on chapter one, paragraph one, sentence one.  She had the sudden urge to pick up the portable computer and hurl it against the wall when there was a knock on her door.  Rolling her eyes, Brennan put the laptop on the cushion next to her and walked to the door.

          “Booth, I don’t want to talk about it!”  She shouted opening the door.

          “Expecting someone else?”  Angela asked.  Brennan blushed and let her friend into the apartment.

          “Why are you here?”  She asked, rather snippily, changing the subject.

          “There’s no need to get a tone.  I thought you could use someone to talk to.  Besides, the pizza will be here soon.”  Angela answered.

          “I’m sorry.  I guess I’m just not in the mood for company.”  Brennan apologized.

          “Listen, hon, you need to talk to someone.  Lately, every time we talk you get snappy and now you’re calling me Booth.  I’m getting worried.”  The artist said.  Brennan sighed.

          “Come on.  Tell me everything.”  Angela pleaded.  The two sat down on the sofa.

          “We had just closed the missing senator case and I was sitting in my office late.”  Brennan started. 

          “What happened?”  Angela prodded after a few moments of silence.

          “Booth came by and we… we…” 

          “Dear God in your office?”  The artist’s face lit up.

          “All we did was kiss but it was the most amazing kiss I’ve ever experienced.  I just…”  Brennan corrected her.

          “You’re just worried that because you work together, things are going to get weird.”  Angela finished, hitting the nail on the head.

          “My career is important but I’ve never felt this way and I’m not sure what I should do.  If things were to fall apart, I’m not sure we could work together without getting on each other’s nerves.”  Temperance told her.

          “You guys already get on each other’s nerves.  You have to give it a try.  There’s a good chance that you’ll be missing out on something incredible, if you don’t.”  The artist said.

          “I’ve probably already screwed things up, after today.”  Brennan sighed.  At that moment, there was a knock on the door and Angela quickly got up to answer it.  The pizza boy handed her the box and she handed him the money.

          “Tell me everything, sweetie.”  Angela said as she sat down.


	13. Chapter 12

**Monday Morning around 10 a.m.**

Booth walked into the Medico-Legal Lab with his usually smile hidden away somewhere.  He hadn’t spoken to Brennan after their fight on Friday.  Parker hadn’t seemed to notice that he was in a bad mood and at least that was some consolation.  The two had had fun at the playground and Parker had been thrilled to learn how to ride his bike but no matter what Booth did he couldn’t get his mind off of Temperance.  In fact, he felt that the three of them would’ve had fun this weekend.

          Brennan looked up from the new Civil War body that they had been asked to identify.  Well not new, just new for them.  She saw the FBI Agent walking in with a stack of files.  She felt guilty about what had happened and now she wasn’t sure how to act.  Angela had listened intently on Friday and told her that the only way to fix what she had done was to apologize.  However, Brennan had her doubts that it would be that easy.  The forensic anthropologist wasn’t thrilled that her emotions had broken through the solid brick walls she had built and she hadn’t wanted to sound like she was the only one who cared about catching the killer.  The fact of the matter was that she wasn’t the only one who cared and she was sure that Booth had probably been offended.  _Way to be a complete idiot_ , she scolded herself. 

          The FBI Agent scanned himself into the lab’s platform and walked up to Brennan and the rest of squints. 

          “Well I guess I’m going to interrupt your Civil War guy again.”  He said.

          “Has another body been found?”  Brennan asked, both of them acting as if everything was normal.

          “No, but I have ten more suspects to run and Cullen says if we don’t find any more evidence or get any good leads that the case will be put back on the shelf.  There are more cases to be solved and we can’t keep focusing on this one.”  Booth explained.

          “Oh.”  Came the simple answer from Brennan.

          “I just thought you’d want to come with me, is all.”  Booth said.

          “I think Angela, Zach, and Hodgins can handle this ID.”  She replied.  Then turning to her team, she said,

          “Call me on my cell phone if you guys get anything good about our soldier.” 

          “Yes, Dr. Brennan.”  Zach answered, a smile pasted on his face.  At this Hodgins coughed,

          “Suck up.”  The good doctor ignored the entomologists comment and headed down the platform with Booth.

          Brennan hopped into the SUV and waited for Booth to get in and start it up.  She didn’t know if she should apologize now or wait until later.  Then again later might not be so good either.  While she debated internally, Booth climbed into the vehicle and just sat there.  It took a few minutes for Brennan to realize the SUV wasn’t moving.

          “Booth don’t we have to…” she didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence.  The FBI Agent put an index finger to her lips.

          “Before you say anything, there is something I have to tell you.”  He said.  Brennan opened her mouth and again he stopped her.  Only this time it wasn’t with his finger.  Their lips met and once again the world around them disappeared.  It was a good thing that they were sitting down because Brennan knees went weak and she would have fallen down.  When they separated, both could barely breathe. 

          A few minutes later, Brennan turned back to Booth.  There was a slight smile on his face and he moved his head towards her.

          “I wanted to apologize for my behavior Friday.  I’m not the only one that cares about the case or my mother for that matter.”  She said.

          “No, you aren’t but we have to work out something so that we don’t do this again.  I don’t want to fight.”  Booth was slowly getting his smile back.    

          “Me neither.”  She said.

          “Promise me after the case we’ll work on it?”  The FBI Agent asked.

          “I promise.”  A smile crossed her face as he fired up the vehicle and they left the parking lot.

************** 

“Well Mr. Webster according to the file you work for Do-It-Yourself Demolition and are scheduled to knock down the empty apartment building.  The only problem with that is someone found a body.”  Booth grilled the third person they’d talked to today.  The other two had not known anything about the body and had had solid alibis.

          “I don’t know anything about that body.”  He said.  Mr. Webster was a short man and Booth knew that he could easily intimidate him. 

          “Uh-huh and the fact that you are the boss of site means you didn’t know anything.  Why don’t I believe that?”  The FBI Agent asked.

          “I don’t, I swear!”  Webster was obviously getting upset.

          “You know I’m willing to bet that you were an accomplice to the whole thing.  You know that carries a hefty prison sentence.  Of course a guy like you wouldn’t last too long in prison.”  Booth got in his face.

          “I had no part of it!”  Again Webster shouted.

          “Then tell me who was!”  Booth yelled.  At that moment, Mr. Webster clammed up.


	14. Chapter 13

Booth’s fists clenched and he pounded one on the table.  His face was twisted in anger and he continued to shout.

          “I know you know something Mr. Webster!  Tell me or you’re going to find yourself in a lot of trouble!”  But the man refused to budge.  It was time for a new tactic.

          “You know, I shouldn’t get so worked up.  What do I care if you go to prison?”  The FBI Agent loosened his tie and sat down. 

          “There are some great people in prison.  You know you’re cellmate Bubba will have a nice little game you can play.  If that doesn’t work, someone else will definitely want to play.  Of course, I could just let it slip that you tortured and murdered seven women or was it little girls?”  Booth could see Webster getting very uncomfortable.  A little more pushing and the man would crack.

          “I’ll be there when they stick the needle in your arm that way the last thing you see will be by big smile, you sick bastard.”  Booth pushed back in his seat and stood up heading for the door, waiting for Webster to crack in _5…4…3…2…_

          “All right!”  A smile crossed the FBI Agent’s face. 

          “I had nothing to do with it, I swear.  I got work at my usual time of six a.m. and I walked around the site as I always do.  There was this guy with a muddy shovel leaving the site and I called for him to stop.  He ran away before I could get to him.  I didn’t know he buried a body until one of my men found it.”  Webster spilled his guts.  Booth moved back to the table and leaned over the desk putting his hands inches from the man on the other side of the table.  He looked into the man’s eyes; the fear in them was undeniable.  If Webster had actually committed the crime he would have been solid and stoic.  This guy was falling apart.

          “Why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place?”  Booth asked.

          “I can’t get involved in something like this.  If that guy comes after me, what am I going to do?  I’ve got a wife and kids.”  Webster told him.

          “Do you think you can give us an accurate description of him?”  The FBI Agent asked.  Webster nodded and Booth told him he’d send a sketch artist in.

          Brennan stood behind the one-way glass.  She had watched Booth work and she never failed to be amazed at his work.  If she had been in there, she’d probably lose her cool and never get the guy to talk.  Booth had the little games he’d play and catch them. 

          “Well hopefully he’ll give us a decent description.  I want to get this guy.  For all we know, he already has another victim in his sights.”  The G-man interrupted her thoughts.  A grim look crossed her face.

          “What was that little game you were talking about?”  Brennan asked.  Booth kicked himself mentally for telling Webster that whole little game thing.  It had worked perfectly to get the suspect to spill what he knew but of course she would question what he was talking about. _Shit!_   He cursed.

          Brennan looked to him; she was still waiting for an explanation.  Booth had to look for a way out and fast.

          “It’s not important.  What is important is that we got him to tell us what he knew.  We’ve gotten it down to one suspect.  When the sketch artist is done, we can take it to local PDs and have them be on the lookout for this guy.  With his picture out to the police, we should get lucky soon.”  The FBI Agent hoped the change of topic would get her mind off the game. 

          “Excellent but how do we tie the suspect to the other murders?  There was no DNA or fingerprints on the victims.”  Brennan asked.

          “We have to hope that we catch him before he destroys all the tools he used on the victims or the place that he would torture and kill them.  With any luck we can pin a bloody hammer on him or something.”  Booth sounded concerned.  Both knew that this step would be tough.  The suspect had been incredibly careful and had not left them much to go on.


	15. Chapter 14

**Thursday Night around 7 p.m.**

Brennan sat in her apartment with her laptop covering her thighs.  Her agent had been getting pressure from the publisher, which in turn meant she was getting pressure from her agent.  So she had gotten the story up to chapter eleven but things weren’t progressing fast enough.  The plot seemed sluggish and the characters were trying to take on a life of their own. 

          Bored, her thoughts began to drift back to Monday and Booth pressing the suspect.  She still couldn’t get that phrase he had used out of her head.  What game would Mr. Webster be playing in prison?  That didn’t seem like a good place to play games.  She’d asked Angela what he had been talking about and the artist had given a look. 

          _“Does the phrase, ‘Don’t drop the soap’ mean anything to you?”  Her friend had wondered._ Once again, however, she had no idea what she was talking about.  Brennan’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.  She sighed and removed the portable computer from her lap and onto the coffee table.

          Now standing at the door, she looked through the peephole.  The forensic anthropologist was surprised to see Booth standing on the other side of it.

          “Hi Booth.”  Brennan said as she opened the door. 

          “Hi.  Are you ready?”  He asked.  She gave him a blank stare.

          “We were going to go out for dinner, remember?”  The FBI Agent reminded her. 

          “Oh.”  Her memory flooded back to her.  Booth had a disappointed look on his face.

          “Give me twenty minutes.”  She told him and quickly left him and the door standing wide open.  Something inside him said he had to wait for an invitation to enter but he shook the thought from his mind and closed the door behind him. 

          Booth could hear her shuffling around down the hall and he decided to sit on the sofa.  Brennan’s laptop was still on the coffee table and he was suddenly curious.  Slowly, he touched his finger over the touchpad and the screen came to life.  The FBI Agent recognized the Word document as some of the story she’d been working on in her office (he had snuck a peek earlier in the week).  He started reading some of it when the phone rang.  Immediately, he stood up and got as far away from the laptop as he could, so as not to have Brennan think he was peeking.

          “Hello, you’ve reached Dr. Temperance Brennan.  I’m not home right now, of course that’s obvious.  Leave me a message after the beep.”  Her answering machine played the recorded message and beeped.

          “Hello Dr. Brennan.  Don’t think I forgot about you.  Your incompetence will soon lead to a mistake.”  The machine shut off before Booth could comprehend what just happened. 

          “Who was it?”  Temperance called from the other room.  When Booth didn’t answer she became nervous and walked down the hallway to the living room.

          There she found the FBI Agent with her phone in his hand and listening to something.  She was about to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing when he hung up.

          “Damn!”  Booth cursed. 

          “What’s going on?”  Brennan asked.  He pressed the play button on her answering machine and they both listened to the message.  When the voice came on, she immediately recognized it.

          “How did he get my home number?”  She asked.

          “It’s a good question.  Just like, how did he get your cell phone number?  I don’t like this at all.  I just star six-nined the number and it came back saying the phone was not able to receive calls, which means it was a pay-phone.”  Booth explained.

          “Is there any way to trace it?”  Brennan asked.  He shook his head.

          “Unfortunately, no.  I think maybe we should stay in for dinner and that maybe I should stay with you until we catch this guy.” 

          “Seeley, I can’t live my life in fear.  I want to go out and have dinner with you.  Besides I can take care of myself.”  She said.

          “Temperance, when I said I’d never hurt you it also meant I’d never let you get hurt.  If something ever happened to you I’d never forgive myself.”  He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.  It felt good to be in his arms. 

          “Let’s go out and enjoy ourselves.”  She said.  Booth let go of her and she stood there in front of him.  He tried to suppress his laughter but it was hard.  She was only wearing one shoe and had half of her makeup missing.

          “You might want to finish getting ready first.”  Brennan made a face and looked in the mirror on the wall.  She almost laughed herself but quickly ran down the hall to finish her makeup and find her other shoe. 

********************

          He sat out in his black 1997 Ford F-150 just outside her apartment.  The man stroked his face and beard.  He had watched the doctor and her FBI partner leave the apartment, followed them to Wong Foo’s, and then back to her apartment.

          It had been a few hours and the FBI Agent hadn’t left yet.  _That Agent Booth might be trouble.  I’ll let them have their fun tonight_ , he thought to himself.  He rubbed his blue eyes and ran a hand through his dark brown, almost black, hair.  He had cursed his stupidity of being seen by the demolition foreman but since then he’d changed his physical appearance.  Dyed his hair, grown a beard and moustache, he walked with a limp, and spoke with a foreign accent.  He could blend in and no one would notice him.  They would never catch Bernard Mantelli.  He was too smart for that.


	16. Chapter 15

**Monday Morning at 11 a.m.**

Brennan and her team were working on the next Civil War body identification when Booth walked into the lab.  He had a sour look on his face.  It had been a week and the local police department hadn’t found anything.  Even the departments in Virginia had found nothing.  Cullen was breathing down his neck to either solve the case or pass it on.  Booth had told him about the phone calls to Brennan but without anyway to trace them, there wasn’t much he could do.  Wednesday had been the given deadline and the FBI Agent hoped he could find something.         

“Booth for the tenth time, anything new on the case?”  Brennan shook him from his thoughts.         

“Sorry.  No there isn’t anything new and Cullen wants me to hand the case off by Wednesday.”  He told the team.         

“This has to be one of the hardest cases.  The suspect left no evidence of himself and even when he trips up and someone spots him, we still can’t find him.”  Angela said.         

“He’s probably worked for the government somewhere and they just don’t want to admit to it.”  Hodgins put his conspiracy out for everyone to hear.  Booth shot him a look but just shrugged it off.         

“What about the abuse theory?”  Zach asked.         

“Well it would work if we could ask the suspect.  Just another thing we can match to the suspect, if we could find him.”  The FBI Agent sighed.  Brennan had been quiet for a while. Her eyebrows moved together and her nose scrunched up.         

“Booth, can I talk to you in my office for a minute?”  She asked.  He gave her a confused look but followed her to her office.         

Once inside, the forensic anthropologist closed and locked the door and drew the shades closed.  Whatever she had to say apparently she didn’t want the rest of the team to see.         

“What is it?”  Booth asked.         

“You know on the phone call I got Thursday night before dinner?”  Brennan asked her own question.  He nodded his head but didn’t see where this was going.         

“The man said my incompetence would soon lead to a mistake.  What if we made a mistake?”  She wondered.           

“What do you mean?”  Booth asked.         

“I mean let him get me.”  Brennan told him.         

“What!  No way, Bones.  I can’t let you do that.  What if something goes wrong and I lose you?”  The FBI Agent strongly objected.         

“This might be the only way to catch this guy.”  Brennan told him.         

“I’m not putting you in harms way.”  Booth argued.         

“If we don’t catch him now, he’ll just try to grab me later when we’re not paying attention and then how will you feel?  Thursday night we had a lovely dinner and we talked almost all night again.  I don’t want that to go away but if we don’t do this we may never have another night like that again anyway.”  Brennan tried to make him understand.  Booth looked into her blue eyes.  Something told him that despite her fear she wanted to do this.  Not only did she want to, she needed to.  He let out a long sigh and pulled her to him.  They stood in each other’s arms for a few moments and then Booth pulled away slightly.  He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers.  Brennan could feel her knees go weak and she just wanted to melt into his arms when there was a knock on her office door.          

Quickly, the two separated and made sure they looked ok.  Brennan then moved to the door and opened it.          

“Dr. Goodman.”  She said in surprise.           

“Dr. Brennan, are you working another case with Agent Booth or are you getting those identifications done?”  The tall black anthropologist asked.         

“Sir, we are about to finish the case that we are working on.  I have Angela, Zach, and Hodgins working on the identifications.”  Brennan answered.         

“But you are the leader of them and the most knowledgeable.”  Goodman’s tone remained even despite him being a little upset.         

“Zach is quite capable of examining and recording the bones.  I have confidence in his ability.  Now if you’ll excuse us.  There is some work to be done at the Hoover building.”  She cut him short by pulling Booth out of the office.  The two walked by the rest of the squints and headed for the door.         

“Where do you think they’re going?”  Hodgins asked.         

“It’s more like what did Goodman interrupt?”  Angela wondered.         

“What do you mean?”  Zach looked up from the skeleton covered in a Confederate uniform.         

“Brennan pulls Booth into her office, closes the door and draws the shades.  Either they didn’t want us to see them arguing or they were doing something else.”  Angela tells the young man.          

“They didn’t have enough time for… unless Booth isn’t that gifted.”  Hodgins pointed out.         

“Time for what?  What are you talking about?”  Zach asked all confused.         

“Get back to work, clueless.”  Hodgins shot him a look.  Angela smiled and got back to work herself, stealing glances at the “bug guy” every few minutes.


	17. Chapter 16

**Monday Night at 8 p.m.**

Booth sat in the FBI issue rental car.  It was a 1999 Ford Taurus.  He knew that the car was inconspicuous and it would be good to follow Bones around in.  So far he’d picked up on a black F-150 that continued to follow Brennan around. 

He had objected to allow this plan and neither had Cullen at first but Brennan had refused to back down.  Finally, his boss agreed as long as Booth followed her.  There was no argument from him; he just wished that there had been another way to go about things. 

Brennan sat at the kitchen table flipping through her paperwork.  She was nervous but Booth sitting outside her building she felt more comfortable.  Still she didn’t feel like sitting so she got up and headed into the living room.

She moved her sofa over and cleared a space in the room.  Then she went down the hall to her bedroom.  Pulling off her skirt and button down top, she pulled on her exercise clothes.  The loose fitting pants and top were perfect to practice her karate moves.  Her _gi_ , or traditional karate outfit, was saved for when she was down at the dojo.

Outside, Booth watched the man in the F-150 climb out of the truck.  He didn’t look like the description that Mr. Webster had given the sketch artist but he’d been following Brennan on her trip home and to the grocery store.  He watched him disappear into the doorway.  Slowly, Booth got out of the Taurus and made his way up to the protected stoop. 

Bernard Mantelli stood in the doorway, in his seemingly ridiculous outfit.  He poked the buzzer buttons until he heard the lock click.  A smile crossed his face and he pulled the door open.  This was going to be easier than he thought.

The demented man made his way to the apartment he knew was that of Dr. Temperance Brennan.  He smiled again at the thought of how easily he had gotten the information from the high school reunion committee.  The secretary had been so incredibly helpful giving out Dr. Brennan’s information.  Now he would at last capture the object of his obsession. 

Brennan was practicing her kicks and punches when the door to her apartment flew open.  Quickly, she turned to the source of the noise and saw the strange looking man standing there.

“We finally meet in person, Dr. Brennan.”  Mantelli used his regular voice.  The forensic anthropologist’s eyes went wide, this was it.  She froze for only a moment before lunging at him.

“You made a big mistake.”  Brennan told him.  In one swift move, she kicked him in the stomach.  Mantelli doubled over and fell to his knees.  This time a smile crossed Brennan’s face.  When she moved close to him, he grabbed her leg and pulled her down.  The forensic anthropologist’s head hit the floor of her apartment. 

Mantelli quickly went over to her and from the looks of things that conk on the head had been enough.  Brennan’s eyes were closed.  The fanatical man then moved to the apartment door and closed it.  However, when he turned around, he caught a face full of Brennan.  She landed a punch on his chin and pivoted on her left foot, hitting him with her right.  Suddenly, she felt this electric jolt go through her body and then everything went black.

Booth buzzed Brennan’s button.  The lock didn’t click and he was forced to poke the buzzer buttons until someone else let him in, just as Mantelli had done.  He casually walked up to the elevator.  When the car reached the correct floor, the FBI Agent noticed that something was wrong as soon as the doors opened.

Though Dr. Brennan’s door was closed, there were pieces of the framework lying on the floor.  He pulled his weapon from his shoulder holster.  His senses immediately kicked into sniper mode.  The slightest sound made pivot and point his 9mm at the noise.  One of Temperance’s neighbors opened the door slightly. 

“FBI, get back inside.”  Booth hissed.  The neighbor quickly closed the door and he continued to his destination. 

Booth tried to door handle and it easily turned.  Slowly he opened the door, with his gun pointed in front of him.  Making a quick sweep of the disheveled living room, he found it empty.  Silently, the FBI Agent moved to the kitchen.  Again he found nothing and moved through the rest of the apartment.

Quickly, Booth pulled out his cell phone and called a number while running back to his car.  A dispatcher picked up and said,

“DC Police, what seems to be the problem?”

“This is FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth.  I need an APB out on a black Ford F-150, mid to late nineties model, license plate Alpha Tango Bravo 3685.  The suspected vehicle has been used in the kidnapping of Dr. Temperance Brennan.”  He hung up the phone and hopped into the car.


	18. Chapter 17

Brennan awoke with a terrible headache.  Her whole body felt bruised and she wanted to see how bad things were.  However, moving her head hurt too much and she tried to let her hands do the job for her.  Of course, that would have worked if she wasn’t tied to something.

          This forced her to move her aching head.  She kept her eyes open only slightly to try to avoid any light from making her headache worse.  The forensic anthropologist noticed however that it was dark wherever she was and opening her eyes all the way wouldn’t cause a problem.

          “Well look who is awake.”  Immediately, Brennan recognized the voice of her abductor.

          “What do you want with me?”  She asked.

          “If I had time, I would tell you but no doubt that pesky FBI Agent of yours is already hot on our trail.  He’ll soon learn that he shouldn’t have kept you and I apart.”  Mantelli told her. 

          “It seems the only thing keeping us apart are these roped you used to bind me to this chair.”  Temperance stated flatly.  A smile crossed Bernard’s lips.

          “All in due time, my love.  I would like to apologize for your headache.  I’m sure you have one after I hit your head against the stairwell doorjamb.”  He said.

          “I’ve gotten used to carrying bodies around your size.  I had seven practice runs before I felt comfortable enough to come for you.”  The crazed up fruit loop continued.

          “You killed those women so you could come after me?  Why?”  Brennan asked, trying to hide her horror.

          “You are the prize.  Those other women were just as I said, practice.”  Mantelli smiled.

          “You dumped them so they would be obvious, so I would get the case.  They didn’t have any teeth or fingerprints and you knew that the police would be in need of my expertise.”  She spat.

          “Of course, your books practically told me how to avoid being caught so I followed them.  You were telling me how I could get close to you.”  He told her.  Brennan sighed.  _I have to keep him talking.  The longer he talks the less likely he’ll try to hurt me_ , she thought.   

******************

The local police had sighted the truck heading toward the business district and there were plenty of places that maniac could have Bones.  Booth weaved in and out of traffic heading in the direction of the business complexes.  Backup was already on its way from the FBI and the police were already searching the area.

“How did I let this happen?”  He asked himself. 

“How did the bastard get her?”  Again asking a question only he could answer.  He had searched the apartment and found nothing.  Then an idea occurred to him.  _The stairs._   Of course, the psycho had used the stairs as he had used the elevator.  It was the perfect place to get Brennan out of the building.  No one would ask questions as to why he was carrying the forensic anthropologist’s limp body.  _Idiot!_ Booth cursed his stupidity.  _I hope I can get to her before…_ he couldn’t bear to finish the thought.

*******************

           Mantelli moved closer to Dr. Brennan, she wanted to squirm away from him but the chair refused to budge.  He forced his lips onto hers and she tried to turn away but he held her head so she couldn’t.  The manic saw the look of contempt in her face when he pulled away.

          “You have no permission to kiss me!”  She shouted.

          “You and I are meant to be together.”  He told her.

          “There is only one man, who I’m meant to be with and you aren’t it!”  Brennan continued to shout.  At this, her captor became enraged.

          “Agent Booth is not the man for you.  I am!”  Mantelli shouted.  He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a 9mm handgun.  She recognized it as a Glock 22, the same gun that Booth carried.

          “We will be together, I swear it!”  He shouted and pointed the weapon at Dr. Brennan.


	19. Chapter 18

“Ok, ok, whatever you want.”  Brennan tried to control her fear.  _Where is Booth?_   She wondered.  Mantelli lowered the handgun and bent down so their faces were only inches apart. 

          “I had hoped you’d see it my way.”  He whispered.  Suddenly, he pulled his attention away from her.  Something nearby had caught his attention. 

          “I do believe we have company.”  Bernard told her softly.  Brennan knew this was her chance she had to do something.

          “Booth!”  She screamed at the top of her lungs.  Immediately, Mantelli swiveled around and stared at her. 

****************** 

          The FBI Agent climbed out of his car, drew his own Glock from his shoulder holster, and raced toward the police cars.  An officer was busy on his radio and Booth could hear what he was saying.

          “We’ve located Dr. Brennan and her kidnapper.”  There was a gunshot in the background.

          “He’s firing on us.  We need backup at the empty warehouse by the new computer factory.”  Booth knew where that was and he ran in the direction of the firing.  He slid his bullet proof vest on as he ran.

          “Hang in there, Temperance.” 

***************** 

          Brennan watched Mantelli unload his Glock, replace the cartridge, and feel around for another.  He looked nervous and that’s when she noticed that he only had that one.  _It’s only a matter of time before he will run out of bullets and then, logically, he’ll turn the gun on me and then himself._ Temperance’s mind reminded her.  She tried not to think about it and hoped that Booth was out there. 

          Without warning, the bullets stopped and Mantelli turned to her the Glock leveled at her.  Before she could get any words to form, Bernard made a sad smile and said,

          “I’m sorry, my love.”  Those were the last words she heard, as the Glock 22 released his shell.  In an instant, Brennan can feel pain and suddenly cold.  The chair she is tied to, tipped over from the force exerted on her body.

****************** 

          Booth charged past the police officers before they could stop him.  He saw Mantelli holding his weapon, still pointed at Brennan.  Blood oozed onto the floor and the FBI Agent’s first reaction was to go toward her but then he stopped.

          “You were trying to keep us apart but now we’ll be together forever.”  Bernard raised the gun to his head and was about to pull the trigger when Booth raised his own weapon and squeezed the trigger.

          Booth’s bullet pierced Mantelli’s left kneecap and the man howled in pain and dropped his weapon.  Quickly the FBI Agent was on him and he handcuffed him.  Leaving the man to bleed and be in pain, Booth quickly rushed over to Brennan.

****************** 

Her breathing is labored and a warm sticky substance trickles down from her stomach.  The floor is cold but her body seems to be getting used to it, as she couldn’t feel much anymore.  Nerve synapses fire slowly as her thoughts turn to the only good thing in her life, FBI Special Agent Booth.

          The moments began to slow as the very first kiss they shared replayed in her head.  They would’ve been able to work out a relationship if… suddenly she was afraid of what was coming.  _I don’t want to die!_   She screamed inside her head.  Darkness was calling to her; she knows she can’t let it win.  Brennan tried to fight the feeling that was taking over her body but it seemed impossible.  Her eyes began to slowly close as a light appeared, seemingly beckoning her to it.

*****************

          “Temperance, please stay with me.  Oh God, please.”  Booth said to her.  Her eyes fluttered at his words but that was all he could get out of her.  The FBI Agent tried to stop the bleeding like he had unfortunately done so many times before, back when he was a sniper.

          “I NEED AN AMBULANCE!  HURRY!”  Booth shouted to the police officers outside.  Tears started to form in his eyes. 

          “God no, Temperance, don’t leave me.  I’m so sorry.”  He said.

          “The ambulance will be here soon.”  A voice said behind him but he barely heard it.  His only focus was on Temperance and the blood leaking from her stomach.


	20. Chapter 19

FBI Special Agent Booth sat in the waiting room on the third floor of the hospital.  He looked at his hands, which were still red from Temperance’s dried blood.  For some reason, he hadn’t washed them off.           

“Sir.  Sir.”  A nurse was talking to him.         

“Sir, is that your blood?”  Booth looked up at her.         

“No.”  Came his one word response.         

“You need to wash it off.  The risk of infection is not something you should take lightly.  Whose blood is it?”  She asked.         

“My partner’s.”  Booth’s sentences had managed to gain a word.  At this, the nurse remained silent.  The nurse made a tight smile and led him from his chair to the nearest restroom where he could clean himself up.         

Washing his hands in the sink suddenly brought him back to reality.  Booth clenched his fists, almost hard enough to dig his nails into his palms.  Quickly, he finished washing his hands and headed for a room just down the hall.         

Two policemen stood guard outside the door.  Both nodded at the FBI Agent and let him enter the room.  Bernard Mantelli was asleep, despite being chained to his bed.  His knee bandaged.  Booth stood over him and put his hand on the psycho’s bad knee.  Immediately, Mantelli awoke.

“You…”  Was the only word Bernard got out before Booth squeezed his kneecap.  Mantelli grabbed the sheet on the bed and clenched his teeth.         

“I swear to everything holy that if my partner dies, you’ll wish you were never born.  Do you understand me?”  Booth squeezed Bernard’s kneecap harder and the man almost let out a cry of pain but Booth’s other hand on his throat prevented it.

 “Don’t even think about it.”  The FBI Agent growled and let go of the man.  Quickly, he left the room and headed down to the nurses’ station. 

**************

          The phone rang out in the living room but Angela refused to get out of bed.  Rolling over, she noticed that her clock read one-thirty in the morning.  She had been waiting for Brennan to call but this was ridiculous.  That’s when she heard the message machine kick in.         

“Hey you’ve reached Angela.  I’m out on a date with a very hunky man right now so leave a message.”  There was a beep followed by a familiar voice.         

“Angela, pick up its Booth.  Angela, are you there?”  In a flash, the artist was in the living room of her apartment with the phone in her hands.         

“Booth, what’s going on?”           

“I’m sending a police officer to your place.”  He said.         

“What happened?  Is Brennan ok?”  Angela asked.         

“She’s in surgery right now.  Please just go with the officer and I’ll explain when you get here.”  Booth told her.         

“Ok.”  Was the only word that came out before the phone line went dead. 

 **************

Booth paced the floor waiting for the doctor to come out.  It seemed like he’d been waiting an eternity and he checked his watch again.  Only two minutes had passed, since he’d checked the last time.         

“Booth!”  He turned around to find Angela coming down the hall.  The FBI Agent met her, seeing the look of concern on her face.         

“What happened?”  She asked.         

“Temperance has been shot.  She’s in surgery right now but the nurses won’t tell me anything because I’m not her next of kin or her responsible party.”  Booth told her.  There was a silence between the two as his words started to sink into Angela’s mind.  Quickly, she headed to the nurses’ station.  Booth followed and they got the attention of the nurse there.         

“My name is Angela Montenegro and this is FBI Special Agent Booth.  We want to know about Temperance Brennan.”  The nurse gave her a look.  Angela was about to reach over the desk and strangle the woman when a doctor walked up to the desk and spoke.         

“Ma’am, she can’t give you that information unless, you are her next of kin.”           

“Temperance doesn’t have any next of kin.  I’m her best friend and responsible for her.  Agent Booth is her partner.”  Angela pointed out, her anger rising.  The doctor nodded.         

“My name is Dr. Williams.  Right now, Miss Brennan is being prepared to move to a room.  She received a gunshot wound to the stomach.”  He explained.         

“I know; I was there.  How bad is it?”  Booth asked, starting to get angry himself.           

“Sir, you need to calm down.”  Dr. Williams said.         

“Calm down?  My partner’s been shot, she’s been in surgery for over an hour, and no one will give me a straight answer!  I’m not calming down!  Tell me how she is!”  Booth shouted at the smaller man.         

“The bullet was pierced her stomach, nicked the small intestine, and barely missed her spine as it exited her body.  She lost a lot of blood and right now she’s in a touch and go phase.”  The doctor immediately complied.  Booth realized that he hadn’t even checked Brennan’s back for an exit wound.  He was too focused on the gaping one in the front of her.            

“She’s in room 325.”  Dr. Williams told them.  Quickly, Booth and Angela headed down the hall towards Dr. Brennan.


	21. Chapter 20

**Tuesday Morning at 8 a.m.**

Light slowly filtered in as her eyes flickered open.  The light was brighter than the one at the warehouse and it took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust.  When she was finally able to look around she realized that she was in the hospital and that there were two familiar looking people sleeping in their chairs on either side of her bed. 

          Temperance opened her mouth to say something but no words came.  Her throat was dry and her lips felt a little chapped.  Licking them, she tried it again, but to no avail.  Instead she reached out for Booth with her right hand. 

          He felt something touching his hand and he opened his eyes.  It was then that he realized it wasn’t Angela but Temperance.  There were words that he wanted to say but they never made it to his lips.  Instead a big smile crossed his face.  She smiled in return and he stood up.  Leaning over her, Booth kissed her forehead. 

          Brennan desperately wanted to ask questions but that dryness in her throat and lips refused to let her.  She motioned that she wanted to speak but couldn’t.  Booth nodded and moved over to Angela. 

          “Ange, wake up.”  The forensic artist mumbled something and opened her eyes. 

          “I’m going to get a nurse.  Keep her company.”  Booth told her.  Angela looked over to Brennan and saw that her friend was awake.

          “Oh sweetie.”  The forensic artist stood up so she could lean over and give her friend a hug.  Booth left to find a nurse, leaving the two friends alone. 

          “You had a worried for quite some time hon.  Booth refuses to tell me what happened.”  Angela said.  Brennan nodded and gave a tight smile.  She hoped that Booth would return soon.

          In five minutes, she got her wish.  The FBI Agent walked back into the room with a nurse and a glass of water.  He handed the glass to her while the nurse checked all of Brennan’s vitals.  Booth watched her down the water and lick her lips.

          “Thank you.”  She croaked. 

          “I’ll be right back with a pitcher of water for you.  The anesthesia has left you a little dry.  That’s perfectly normal.  All your vitals seem good and I’ll have the doctor check in soon.”  The nurse smiled.  She left the room, leaving Booth, Angela, and Brennan alone.

          “How are you feeling?”  Booth asked. 

          “Fine, I guess.  Logically, I’m not in good health though.”  Brennan said.

          “Tempe, you gave us quite a scare.  What happened after you two left the Jeffersonian?”  Angela asked.  Her friend didn’t see the look on Booth’s face before she spilled what she remembered.

          “I volunteered to be the bait, as Cullen had put it, but I still don’t understand what he meant.”  Brennan said.  Angela’s eyes went wide. 

          “Anyway the guy broke into my apartment, we fought, and then the next thing I remember is waking up tied to a chair.  He told me that he’d used those other women as practice, so he could get to me.  He said we were meant to be together.  When the police arrived, he began to shoot at them.  I watched him fumble with the Glock.  He reloaded it until he ran out of clips.  At that point, he turned to me and told me he was sorry.  The next thing I remember was thinking…” she stopped.  The last thing she remembered was thinking about Booth.  It was now that she looked at the FBI Agent.  He had a painful look on his face; like he couldn’t stand reliving the moment he saw what the bastard down the hall had done to her.

          “His name is Bernard Mantelli.”  Booth said his voice emotionless.  Suddenly, he left the room.  Before Brennan could say anything, Angela left her, closing the door as she went.  However, the forensic artist didn’t realize that the door hadn’t latched.

          “Booth, you have to get back in there.  She needs you.  What is going on that you don’t want to talk about?”  Angela confronted him.

          “It’s my fault, she’s like this.  I told Cullen that this was a bad idea.  I didn’t want her to get involved.  I knew it was too dangerous.  But they wouldn’t listen.  Then when I had the chance to catch this guy, he slipped through my fingers and had her in that warehouse.  He shot her, Angela.  I had Bones’ blood all over my hands.  And the worst part was she could have died in my arms Ange!  I didn’t see the exit wound in her back!  I was too busy thinking about what I’d do if she died.  I think the best thing for her is if I stay away.  I can’t handle having her death on my hands, on my conscience.  I love her too much.  When this case is over, I’m putting in for an immediate transfer!”  Booth told the shocked forensic artist.  Without anther word the FBI Agent, turned and walked away.  Angela stood there for a few minutes before turning to walk back into the room.  That’s when she saw that the door wasn’t closed all the way.  She sighed and walked into the room.  It was obvious from the tears on Brennan’s cheeks, that she had heard everything.

******************

          Booth sat in his apartment on his sofa.  He hadn’t meant to tell Angela all that but he felt responsible for the whole mess.  Grabbing the beer bottle off the coffee table, he swigged some.  He knew it was early to drink but he didn’t care. 

          He’d already gotten a statement from the officers at the scene and Mantelli was chained to his hospital bed, he wasn’t going anywhere.  Tomorrow, he’d finish his report and wait for his reassignment.

          The phone in his kitchen rang.  It rang and rang until the answering machine picked up.  The message he’d put on there played.

          “Hey this is Booth, leave a message.” 

          “Booth, pick up, damn it!”  It was Angela.  “I know you’re there.  I hope you’re happy.  Tempe needs you and she heard your little tirade.  You can’t leave!  You have to...”  That’s when he picked up the phone.

          “She heard it?”  He said it in a tone Angela had never heard before.

          “Yes and she’s crushed.  You can’t leave like this.  She doesn’t blame you for any of this.  Despite what you think, you saved her in more ways than one.  Now get down here!”  Angela told him.  She ended the call with that last shout.  Booth stood there in the kitchen, unsure if he could really face her.


	22. Chapter 21

**Friday Afternoon at 2 p.m.**

Temperance sat up in her hospital bed.  She hadn’t seen Booth since Tuesday morning and she knew that his threat of an immediate transfer had come true.  Another FBI Agent had come and taken her statement.  He told her that Mantelli had been released from the hospital and was now in custody. 

          Angela had just left and Jack and Zach had stopped by earlier.  All three of them hadn’t heard from Booth since Tuesday either.  Brennan had this strange feeling that she should be nervous about him but her common sense told her that he was a perfectly capable FBI Agent and that he could take care of himself.  She just wished he would come by and talk to her.

********************

          FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom.  He hadn’t put the paperwork in for a transfer.  He’d been too busy drinking.  Finally, yesterday he had exhausted all his beer supply and slept until a few hours ago.  The agent had woken up with a pounding hangover and a pigsty of an apartment. 

          Booth cleaned up the place and hopped in the shower.  Now in front of the mirror he shaved his three days growth off his face.  He had two hours until Rebecca dropped Parker off.  The phone rang and he left the bathroom with shaving cream still on one side of his face. 

          “Hello.”  The FBI Agent answered gruffly.

          “Booth, what is going on?”  It was Cullen.

          “Sir, I put in to have off until Monday.”  He answered, straightening up slightly.

          “I know but I hear that you wanted to put in for an immediate transfer.  What on Earth are you thinking?  After all you worked for to get the gig at the Jeffersonian, you want to leave?”  Cullen demanded.

          “Sir, I…”  Booth paused.  “I had some time to think about it and…  Who told you?”  The jumble of sentences came out.

          “I got a call from Angela Montenegro telling me that Dr. Brennan had been shot and she wondered where you’ve been, because she hasn’t seen you since Tuesday.  I told her that you requested days off and she didn’t sound happy.  Then I talked to Johnson and find out Dr. Brennan asked him about a transfer you put in for.  What the hell are you doing?”  His boss asked.

          “I have some stuff to work out.  I promise, I’ll explain on Monday.  Goodbye Sir.”  Booth said and he hung up.  Quickly, he put the phone back in the cradle and raced back to the bathroom.

          Ten minutes later, he emerged clean shaven and grabbed his coat.  He had to do something.  Hopefully before it was too late.

************************* 

          “You have another week here and then you can go home.”  Dr. Williams told Dr. Brennan.

          “Well my apartment is a crime scene anyway.”  She sighed.    
          “I talked to Agent Johnson.  He says it’ll be cleared before you are released.”  He said.  Brennan smiled weakly and watched the doctor leave.  She laid her head back ion her pillow and stared up at the ceiling tiles.  A few minutes later there was a knock on the door.

          “Come in.”  Brennan said.  The door opened hesitantly and she didn’t look away from the ceiling. 

          “We need to talk.”  A familiar voice said.  Immediately, Temperance looked at the person who stood just inside the doorway.

          “I thought you had put in for an immediate transfer.”  Her words were cold.  Silence came from Agent Booth.

          “Well that’s fine with me.  Everything will go back the way it was before the FBI squeezed its way into the Jeffersonian.”  More cold words.

          “Temperance, I can’t see you hurt.  I spend the last two days trying to drink you away.  I couldn’t.  You could have died.  I promised I’d never hurt you and it’s too late.  I just wanted to apologize.”  Booth’s words slowly sank in.  Brennan just glared at him and the FBI Agent turned to leave the room.  Knowing she couldn’t get out of bed she called after him,

          “Booth, wait!”


	23. Chapter 22

**One Week Later at 9 p.m.**

Seeley Booth lay on his couch watching television.  He had just put Parker to bed but he was dreading another quiet night.  The FBI Agent hadn’t spoken to his partner since last week when she had called him back into her room at the hospital.  Brennan had pleaded with him to wait until she was released before making any decisions.  Personally, Booth had been catching a lot of flak from Cullen about the transfer bit and nothing would make him happier than to rewind time and have things go back to the way they were before. 

          A knock on his apartment door interrupted his thought and he turned the volume down on the TV and got up to answer it.  Booth opened the door, to find Dr. Temperance Brennan standing on his doorstep.  She was wearing a blue and white striped button down top with navy blue slacks and a pair of dark dress slides.  Booth’s right eyebrow went up at this outfit, considering it was something she usually wore to work.

          “Can I come in?”  She asked.

          “Of course where are my manners?”  Booth blushed and let her in.

          “Why the nice outfit?”  He asked as she took a seat on his couch. 

          “Angela said I should look nice when I left the hospital and I just didn’t bother to change as I went around today.”  Brennan explained.

          “You want something to drink?”  Booth wondered.  She nodded her head and the G-Man walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed two beers.  He returned to the couch, sat down, and handed one of the beers over to her.

          “Thanks.”  She murmured.  Booth just nodded and the two drank in silence.  Quite a few times, Temperance opened her mouth but no words came out.  She wasn’t sure what to say. 

_And you asked me what I want this year, And I'll try to make this kind and clear, Just a chance that maybe, We'll find better days…_

          Booth sat there with his beer bottle in one fist.  The awkward silence was starting to get to him.

  _'Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings, Designer love and empty things, Just a chance that maybe, We'll find better days…_

          Brennan set her bottle down on a coaster on the coffee table.  Words still escaped her but her mind said that she had to do something.

  _So take these words, And sing out loud, ‘Cause tonight's the night, The world begins again…_

          Out of the corner of his eye, Seeley could see that she was thinking hard about something and whatever it was, he hoped that things could return to the way they were.

  _I need someplace simple where we could live, And something only you could give, And that's faith and trust and peace while we’re Alive_

          Temperance knew that this was it.  Her head screamed for her to do the right thing because this may be her last chance. 

  _And the one poor child who saved this world, There's 10 million more who probably could, If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them…_     

Before either one of them knew what was happening, their lips met.  She could feel his hesitance and slowly started to pull away but suddenly there was a force stopping her. 

_I wish everyone was loved tonight, And somehow stop this endless fight, Just a chance that maybe we'll, Find better days._

He pulled her closer with his unoccupied hand and rid himself of the beer bottle in the other.  This was all he wanted.  Suddenly she cried out and quickly his hands flew away from her.  Before Temperance could say anything, Seeley backed away from her, a sad look on his face.         

“Please don’t.”  She begged.  She wanted nothing more than his touch.         

“I can’t even touch you without hurting you.”  Booth said.         

“It’s not your fault.  I volunteered.  Me, not you.  Don’t blame yourself.  Just be here for me now.  I…  I…  I need you.”  It was hard for Temperance to admit that she couldn’t handle something on her own.  Booth’s expression softened.  All he needed was those words.  He moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding the forensic anthropologist close.  Neither one heard the pitter-patter of little feet.         

“Daddy?”           

“Parker, everything all right buddy?”  Booth asked as he carefully let go of Brennan.           

“I heard a noise.”  Parker answered rubbing his eyes.         

“Everything’s fine.  Come on.  We’ll get you a glass of water and get you back in bed.”  His father said.  Parker nodded and waited for his father to get him his drink.  Booth went into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later.  Parker guzzled the little drink and his father took his hand and walked him back down the hall.           

Brennan watched the whole scenario play out and she realized how much Booth loved Parker.  _He loves his son, he loves his job, he loves me…_ that last thought lingered.          

“Are you ok?”  A voice pulled her back to reality.  A smile crossed her face.            

“I’m fine.”  Temperance answered.  Booth sat back down on the sofa and gently placed his lips against hers.           

“Listen, Parker and I were going to go to the park tomorrow and I know that you don’t like kids but…”  she didn’t let him finish.         

“Promise me something.  Promise me that you’ll stop blaming yourself and I promise to go to the park tomorrow.”  It didn’t seem that easy for him but if he wanted to be with her, he would have to try.  Leaning in, he pressed his lips a little more firmly this time.  A jolt went through Temperance as she let his tongue find its way inside her mouth.  It would be a long time before either one would let go.

**The End**


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